Monday, July 9, 2012

The Lollipop Chainsaw playlist.

In the past two days - finally - I've put a goodly amount of time into Gravity Rush. The good news is that I feel very, very positive about it in the same way I feel very, very positive about Bionic Commando - it's a fun platformer with mechanics that are light-years removed from the standard. Delicious.

But more on that later. For now, I feel I should direct your gaze back towards Lollipop Chainsaw - or, to be more precise, your listenin'-holes. I've told you the game, as a whole, is very endearing. I've gone into (way too much) detail about the gameplay, but tonight I'm simply going to show you the playlist on my iPod that's always on when I'm on break at work, headed out back to smoke a cigarette.

The first track that really caught my attention in the game was one by Sleigh Bells. I quickly tracked down their album, and four of their songs are now permanent fixtures on the playlist - despite only one of them appearing in the game. First up - Crown on the Ground.

A high-quality MP3 sounds far better than the YouTube versions, I might add.

Here's Riot Rhythm, which plays when you enter the first high school level.

Skrillex's Rock N' Roll (Will Take You To The Mountain) sounds off during the Chapter 5 classic-video-game homages.

Back to Sleigh Bells with Rill Rill. A much mellower feel, and I love the lyrics, here. "keep thinkin' 'bout every straight face yes / wonder what your boyfriend thinks about your braces / what about them? / I'm all about them"

Here's MSTRKRFT with 1,000 Cigarettes.

One last Sleigh Bells track - the title track and first single off their first album - Treats.

Break Loose by Gramatik has absolutely nothing to do with Lollipop Chainsaw, but I felt the playlist needed some mellow funk.

Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka created all the original and boss fight music for the game - quite a feather in Grasshopper's cap. Here's one of my favorites - the first phase of the fight against Shawnee Smith's crazy psychedelic zombie hippie.

I showed Kayla Kill Bill for the first time last week, and I had to track down Malcolm McLaren's About Her. It's another mellow addition to the playlist that has nothing to do with LP.

Finally, the playlist ends off with three of the games' kitschy diversions into classic American pop. Here's Toni Basil's Hey Mickey. MyGod, the 80s were a terrifying time.

Empire State Human from The Human League.

And finally - naturally - Lollipop by The Chordettes.

The game really wears its influences on its sleeve. Every boss represents a musical genre, up to and including the ultimate confrontation.

Between the two of them, Jimmy Urine and Akira Yamaoka did a phenomenal job on Lollipop's soundtrack. Yamaoka handled the composition (it's awesome to see the typically atmospheric Yamaoka riffing on punk, rock and metal) while Urine was the game's general musical director - selecting pieces of American rock, pop and modern noise to offer up something that feels both kitschy and trendy at once.

CHANCE...

...is actually named David.

This is where I write about video games. Beyond the simple pleasure of it, I hope to use this place as a bit of a mental gym to re-develop my writing style - something I seem to have misplaced around the turn of the century.

It will also serve as a personal blog, but for the most part if you enjoy discussion of gaming news, independent reviews and pointless musings, you have come to precisely the right place.

It's my custom to do at least one post per day - but whether it ends up being ten posts of breaking news and a review, or one post complaining about how I have a tummy ache is not set in stone.